KIDZANIA:
Made in Mexico and showing the world an example of real education

By John Pint

I write this not as a reporter but as a teacher, long interested in
improving what passes for education in too many schools all over the
world.

KidZania is the dream child of Mexican entrepreneur Xavier López
Ancona. It is based on the observation that children like role-play and
particularly enjoy playing the parts of professionals such as teachers,
fire fighters and nurses. The first KidZania opened in 1999 in Mexico
City, and was first named La Ciudad de los Niños. It proved to be
immensely popular, so much so that today there are 26 KidZanias in 20
countries with 11 new ones planned for the coming year including three
to open in the USA.

KidZania raises role-play to a whole new level by creating a small city
with its own bank, police department, hospital, TV station, shops etc.
and then providing the child with a uniform, professional equipment and
training which allows them to try out many different jobs.

I spent several hours last Saturday following six-year-old Paolo Ibarra
around KidZania Guadalajara. First there was the priceless look on his
face when he discovered that the entrance to KidZania was a full-size
jumbo jet situated inside Plaza Patria shopping mall.
Just as in
an airport, we were checked by a security guard and our belongings run
through a scanner. Inside, our pre-purchased tickets were exchanged for
wristbands (with a chip that keeps track of you). In addition, little
Paolo was given a cash stake of the local money, called kidZos and a
credit card. “But you can only activate the card by opening an account
at the bank,” he was told.

We stepped out onto the street in KidZania. Underfoot were artificial
cobblestones and overhead a cheerful blue sky with painted clouds, and
all around us there was hustle and bustle:A DHL delivery was coming
down the street, a fire truck was going the other way, lights flashing
and siren hooting; people were pushing their way in and out of an
employment agency, window washers were washing windows and through
those windows we could see the staff of a TV studio taping a show,
would-be pilots operating flight simulators, confectioners making
candy, and everywhere, in every direction, lots of bodies on the
move—but, in this town, the business people, civil servants and
laborers were all kids.
Our map of KidZania in hand, we made our way through the hullabaloo to
the bank where a teller activated Paolo’s card. Right next to the bank
was the Police Station.

“Would you like to be a policeman, Paolo?”

He nodded his head, eyes wide.

Getting a job, however, required getting in line and we noted with
surprise Paolo’s willingness—over and over—to quietly wait his turn,
for this this kid is normally anything but patient.

Once inside the police station, Paolo was issued a uniform and a very
official-looking cap and then, as a member of group of new recruits, he
was given instructions by a young adult using audiovisual aids.
A few minutes later, Paolo emerged in the company of an older child who
had a clipboard in his hand and a no-nonsense determined look on his
face. It was clear the two of them had a mission with no time to
explain any details of it to me.

Off they went, hither and yon, knocking on doors (which instantly
opened: they were the Police after all!) and checking things off on
their list. Suddenly we heard the siren of a fire truck and—one second
later—Paolo and partner were pulling a police-line tape across the
street, stopping the flow of pedestrians. Policeman Paolo looked like
he had been doing this all his life.

Having been paid for his work, Paolo joined a class at an art studio
where he put on a smock and took a painting lesson—which cost him a few
kidZos.

Now he decided he wanted to join the team of paramedics we had seen
tooling around the streets in an ambulance. This profession, however,
was almost as popular as that of fire fighter. “You’ll have to wait in
line, Paolo...maybe a long time.”

“I’ll wait!” was the reply.

Eventually—through a window in the hospital—we saw Paolo and five
others learning to use a stethoscope and other medical instruments.
Soon the squad of paramedics was clambering into the ambulance, off to
rescue one of their own members who had volunteered to be the accident
victim.
Upon reaching el herido out on the street, it was Paolo who discovered
the poor soul was still alive, diligently applying the stethoscope to
body parts I’d never expect to exhibit a heartbeat...which had some of
us onlookers in stitches. With the help of crutches, the victim made
his way to the ambulance and from there to the Emergency Room.
By now it was time to go, but Paolo stopped off at the Department Store
to spend some of his hard-earned cash (very little, actually) on a
bubble-blower.

“Which of your jobs did you like best, Paolo?”

He answered without hesitation: “Doctor!”

A small screen outside the hospital gives info on what the children
might learn as paramedics: “You will learn to listen to patients and to
discover their needs while working with a team to deal with emergencies
and to apply first aid.”

It also lists the children’s skills which might be improved during this
activity: self-knowledge, critical thinking, creativity, communicating,
teamwork and motor skills. Among the values it tries to promote are
respect, integrity, responsibility and honesty.

The enhanced role-play offered by KidZania comes to the children
through all five senses. They learn by doing, and in many cases the
results will be awarenesses which they will never forget. All this
contrasts dramatically with reading a book while seated in a schoolroom.

A video clip on KidZania states that “Kids can do amazing things when
they are given the chance.” These words echo those of the great
educator Caleb Gattegno who demonstrated that first-graders can easily
do algebra—and have fun doing it—if only placed in the right
environment and given the right tools.

Like Gattegno’s teaching approaches, KidZania offers real learning
which also entertains. Let’s hope that educators will pick up a few
pointers from Xavier López’ creation and help turn the world’s schools
into Places of Learning, just as beneficial and exciting as the
KidZania centers popping up all over the planet.